Rich Hofmann

DAILY NEWS SPORTS EDITOR

Foster Hewitt was the broadcaster who invented hockey broadcasting, the man who first said "he shoots, he scores" into a microphone. Back in the day, when he was doing Hockey Night in Canada on the radio, he would open his Saturday night broadcasts with this line: "Hello Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland."

Well, for the Flyers and Devils, forget the United States.

There are eight first-round playoff series in the National Hockey League. Seven of them are scheduled to have at least three games telecast in the US either on Versus or on NBC. One series will not. You guessed it.

I get it. The Devils have never been a ratings workhorse, given their inability to deliver the New York market in any meaningful way. The Flyers have been so schizophrenic that it is admittedly hard to hitch your wagon to them. But no games?

The Ovechkins are getting four games on Versus. The Crosbys are getting six games on Versus. Everybody understands marketing, and the NHL's decision to market its stars, but zero games for the Flyers and the Devils? No other series has fewer than three US national television appearances. It does seem a tiny bit out of whack.

The good news is you get Jim Jackson and the fellas for the entire first round. And if you are in Canada and Newfoundland, TSN or TSN2 will have you covered. Everybody else, though, will be on their own. Compared to Washington-Montreal or Pittsburgh-Ottawa, the Flyers and Devils will be a rumor.